Before saying anything truly grave I want to say there is one thing I definitely did not give up for academia and it is that I did not get fat. Seriously: there is this famous colleague I have who gained dozens of pounds eating chocolate during their tenure year, and who says it was worth … More Take Four
I go into these crises of fear — “fear of extreme violence,” said a diagnostician — if I do not serve everyone perfectly, or if I thwart someone else’s wishes for the sake of my own survival. Many of those who have seen me in person do not imagine these things because I am so … More Et plus encore
I came across a piece today, that I cannot now find, but which said that large classes are good for working class students because they have to be taught in lock-step, which works better for these students. Middle class students, on the other hand, are those who shine with liberal teaching methods. Do you think … More Working class students, authoritarian methods
“Bateson is undoubtedly correct in believing that the effects of the double bind on the child are particularly devastating. All the grown-up voices around him, beginning with those of the father and mother (voices which, in our society at least, speak for the culture with the force of established authority) exclaim in a variety of … More Girard
This is for my writing group, research as a second language, and SMT, and anyone else, of course. The topic is doing work in short sessions, every day. Today in a departmental meeting on the lower division curriculum it was repeated that foreign language study is unlike the study of other subjects, like English or … More Illumination post
The other thing we were saying at that conference I went to a few weeks ago was that we had met some really mean and also supercilious people in academia and that that was why we had tried to get away from it. Colleague: Where do you expect to publish this book? Professor Zero: Routledge. … More On promise
This is, essentially, what I mean to say. I have not been much of a passive reader since the fifth grade, because I started writing in the sixth. In particular, I only occasionally read long novels for recreation; I do not normally find them relaxing or interesting, and I have to be relaxed and entertained … More Moria on Reading and Writing
Will O’Th’Wisp, Jack of the Green, sprites and spirits, I love Hallowe’en. I spoke with a friend tonight who said she was in a crisis because of being bored with work; she has never taken a job out of true interest, but only for purposes of making money. This of course is where academics are … More Jack O’Lantern
Jeremy, here, is interesting on psychotherapy, which, as we know, I am largely against. And I do not lead the life I think I should, some aspects of which are actually elements in the life I want. Today I gave a long interview about the prison activism I do, and primarily the work done in … More La vie
The question in the students’ book was: have you ever said yes to something when you meant no? I would not normally have a profound thought about this question but because it came up in an academic venue, and somehow I have profound thoughts during this very basic class — they float somewhere near the ceiling, … More On saying yes and no
coldhearted scientist وداد 